Ilkal Saree

http://www.stylefile.in/2013/10/handloomsofindia-stylefile-giveaway.html

1.These are manufactured with art silk or silk warp. They can have cotton or silk weft.

2. Body warp and Pallu are woven separately

3. The Pallu and border warp are joined in loop technique, it is locally known as Tope Teni. 

4. Weft is inserted using Three shuttle technique known as Kondi. 

5. The origin is from the town of Ilkal, in the Bagalkot District of Karnataka, India.

6. The unique feature of Ilkal saree is it's pallu that consists of contrast color (in this case red and white) alternate stripes woven in pure silk. 

7. These are worn in Northern Maharashtra and Karnataka.

8. The particular arrow border is called Gomi

http://handloomsofindia.com/purple-ilkal-saree.html

What is Chintz and Glaze Finish

A fabric frequently sold as dress material has a very superior luster. In India it comes from Ahmedabad. This is called Chintz.

Chintz is a 100% cotton fabric with glazed finish and multi color print. These fabrics are made of 50% polyester and 50% viscose. Ideally, a chintz fabric should have a highly twisted cotton warp intersecting a low coarse twisted cotton weft yarn. The weave should be firm.

Glaze finishing in chintz can be done in two ways. The first method is called "non durable" and the fabrics made from this method are called friction glazed. In this case the fabric is given a starch finish and then it is pressed between heated calender to produce a high luster or polish. It has a very good gloss and hand. However as the base is water soluble, it is sold as dry cleanable product.

In the durable class, the fabric is treated with resin. The resin binds the fabric with the help of cross linking.

A method to identify if a finish is of durable or non durable class is to use a drop of iodine on the fabric. If the drop turns blue it is of durable class, else non durable.

In India, prints in the style of bandhini do come with Chintz finish, have a look below:

How to Identify Uppada Jamdani Sari

http://manacheerelu.weebly.com/uppada.html

In Uppada style of weaving , the design is two sided and when the cloth is touched, the design cannot be felt separately from the cloth. That design is woven into the goods by using ada, jala and number of Tilis. There are no loose threads on either side and no dobbys or Jacquards are used. 

Champa Silk

http://www.exportersindia.com/kosasilkkhadi/tassar-gheecha-saree-varanasi-india-270805.htm

Origin

Champa, Chhatisgarh, India

Fiber

There are seven varieties of Kosa silk i.e.

(1) Shukinda

(2) Dabha

(3) Jadav Dabha

(4) Ranad

(5) Railly

(6) Lariya

(7) Bhrafvala

Railly, Lariya and Barf cocoons are found naturally in the forest collected by the forest dwellers mainly the tribals.

The threads which come from Rally cocoons are generally black in colour while others are yellowish or creamish.

Yarn

Ghicha: Ghicha yarn is produced out of those cocoons, out of which live worm has come out. In the process, the cocoon is damaged and one cannot get a continuous filament. In such cases the cocoons are boiled with soap solutions and several filaments are joined and reeled. This process creates a yarn called as Ghicha and is characterized by its very typical coarseness.  

Katiya: After making the yarn from Gheecha process, some quantity of waste material remains in the cocoons. This waste material then cut together into finer pieces and then reeled into yarn. This yarn is called Katiya.

Nassi: Before making cocoon, the larva joins it with the help of a stem like structure. This structure also contains filaments. However, this is quite stiff. It has to be soaked and boiled in a soft solution and beaten with wooden hammer till it becomes soft. Then it is reeled on thigh in the form of yarn and out of which the fabric is made which is characterized by its typical softness. However, this yarn is costly as a large number of stems are needed to make the fabric.  

Technique

The looms being used now are mostly fly shuttle pit looms though there are some throw shuttle looms in Raigarh

The three shuttle technique is to be found in most Kosa silk areas

Sizing is done by hand with the help of brushes, specially meant for this purpose.

The loss of Sericin during reeling can be off set by what is known as ‘weighting’ or loading, which adds to the volume and weight of raw silk, as also adds to the luster and rustle of silk. In Chhattisgarh, weighting is a compulsory process which is done during the process of sizing, especially for fabrics like ‘Korahs’, undegummed and unbleached fabrics. The weighting is done with starch normally cooked rice water. This is applied to wet the warp and weft yarn during weaving

In the cottages of the weavers a usual warp is of one piece length i.e. one sari, or one piece of malmal of 6 yards or safa of 9 yards.

Surface Ornamentation

The Phera indicates the meaning of ‘round’. Phera method of weaving the body of saree and its border weft threads has rounded each other. The body weft threads are not interlacing with border warp threads and vice versa. They are interlaced by rounding each other at the point of body and border following the phera method. The designs are made using the jhala, jacaurd and dobby.

Uniqueness

The designs are prepared with the dexterous process of Dobby system& there is also no use of jacquard.

References

http://ipindia.nic.in/girindia/journal/Journal_34.pdf

What is Parsi Work Gara Saree

What is Gara Saree

Gara Sarees are worn by Parsi women. Gara sarees are treated as treasure and passed down from one generation to the next. The embroidery on Gara sarees is called Gara embroidery and it defines Parsi work. It is done by hand, and often covers the full face.

Gara Sarees and embroidery was earlier imported from China. The motifs are quintessentially Chinese.

Corner Detail of the Gara Saree: http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/parsi/gara.htm

Traditionally the embroidery is done on the saree itself. However, now borders are used and patched on the saree. These are called 'Kor' borders.

http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/images/gara/kor.jpg

Garas are traditionally done on Gajji Silk or Gaaj, a thick handwoven silk satin fabric.

Gara inspired collection are now everywhere, the patches are attached in Anarkalis and Jackets. That will only increase the value of the authentic pieces.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTAwWDM3OQ==/z/e8cAAOSwGvhT~ug2/$_12.JPG

A Note on Bandhini Motifs

Bandhini, which is a technique of tying-and-dyeing is practiced in some form or the other in most of the parts of the country. Here is a small guide to knowing what all the patterns and motifs for the dotted Bandhini practiced in Rajasthan are called as:

Womenswear Measurements - Some Thumb Rules

1. Relationship between Across Front, Across Back and Across Shoulder

Here Across front is taken at mid armhole. The three measurement taken together are used to draft and gauge armhole shape.

For woven fabric Across front should be 1.5" less than Across shoulder and Across Back should be 0.5 inches less than the Across shoulder.

2. Back and Front Armhole

The Back Armhole should be 1/2 to 5 1/8" bigger than the front Arm Hole

3. Front and Back Neck Width

Back Neck width is 1/2 inches bigger than the front neck width.

Read the full article here and here